City of London Police UX Test to better understand users

Background

The City of London Police constabulary polices the Square Mile of London.

Objectives

The City of London Police launched a new site in January, with the capability for victims to report a crime through an online form. They tested internally, but were aware that they hadn’t tested with real users, people unfamiliar with policing terminology or the types of questions - which are asked of someone when reporting a crime.

Thus they tested their online crime-reporting function with the WhatUsersDo panel and platform, to identify any issues and understand how we could make the experience of reporting a crime easier for victims.

Tasks, challenges & established practice

City of London Police tested with UK desktop users, provided them with a low-level crime scenario, and asked them to report the crime online, as well as feedback on the confirmation email which they received. The online-reporting feature was new to the City of London Police, and they were unsure how to manage it effectively. They knew they had to make it easy for users, which is why they came to WhatUsersDo to understand if there were problems with the existing form(s) and process. They were aware that the language used in the process might be too “policey”/industry-specific, and that they might be failing victims through poor communication.

City of London PoIice have stated “It is our ambition to embed remote user testing in all aspects of the website, to ensure we meet users’ needs. We will use it in combination with A/B testing and analytics tools to get the full picture.”

WhatUsersDo as part of its full service provided UX, account management & panel services including objectives setting, panel segmentation, test design and Full UX Analysis and Insight Reports for the project.

Advantages of Remote UX Testing (client view)

“Remote user testing gives us a ‘real world view’. You quickly understand where issues are, and this informs us and enables us to make better decisions. The panel were true representations of real members of the public, and having access to the WhatUsersDo portal meant we could watch videos as soon as they became available. It was very convenient and low cost compared to lab testing, and provided us with the same level of insight.”

Conclusions, measurement & recommendations (client view)

“The UX Testing programme with WhatUsersDo gave us a complete picture, allowing us to improve the user experience. Our intention is to increase the number of crimes reported online as opposed to on the phone, and help people self-serve. We would definitely recommend WhatUsersDo; I’m a big advocate for this. We will speak to City of London Corporation (Council) to share findings with them.”